A team of Israeli sports promoters is scrambling to stage the first-ever National Football League game to be played in Israel.
According to Natan Amir, chairman of the Committee for the Holy Land Football Bowl, the promoters completed “encouraging discussions” with NFL officials here last week about an exhibition game to be played in Ramat Gan’s 50,000-seat stadium prior to the 1989 season.
Norman Braman, owner of the Philadelphia Eagles and one of four Jewish owners of NFL teams, brought the Holy Land Bowl idea to the attention of NFL officials, Amir said.
League officials who met with the Israeli promoters Feb. 17 said, however, that other countries have expressed similar interest in staging an NFL game. The various proposals will be presented to club owners at a league meeting in mid-March, according to Joe Rhein, director of administration for the NFL.
“To say that we’re close to an agreement (with the Israelis) would be an overstatement,” said Rhein.
Israel has hosted a number of U.S. National Basketball Association teams, and Amir is convinced that American armed forces personnel in the Mediterranean combined with immigrants from the United States would make the Holy Land Bowl a sell-out.
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